


>Day 7 (July 26th)

by KidScrappy



Series: Iwaoi weeks 2015 [14]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-26
Updated: 2015-07-26
Packaged: 2018-04-11 08:17:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4428083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KidScrappy/pseuds/KidScrappy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iwaoi week July day 7 (July 26th)</p>
<p>Prompt:<br/>This is not the end</p>
            </blockquote>





	>Day 7 (July 26th)

**Author's Note:**

> Once upon a time I predicted that [Oikawa](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2803577) would be the one to cry after their loss to Karasuno in the interhighs. Clearly I was wrong, and I've been meaning to write something to rectify that ever since.

It’s a desperate set, from outside the court, but they are desperate. 

It’s the last chance they have to even the score and Oikawa’s set shoots across the width of the court until it’s in exactly the right place for Hajime to hit it. This is it, this is the moment three years of practice on this team have been leading up to.

With all the strength he still has left at the end of the third set he smashes it across the net. Hoping with everything he’s got that it will be enough to break through Karasuno’s block. Knowing it won’t be before he even lands. 

His spike is received and the game barely lasts ten more seconds after that, ending with the ball bouncing off Oikawa’s outstretched arms to a place outside the court. 

The referee blows his whistle and time freezes. Hajime can’t hear the cheering on the other side of the net. He can’t hear the clamor coming from the stands. Can’t hear his teammates shuffling around him. The only thing he hears is a high-pitched buzz as he replays the ball hitting Oikawa’s arms and flying in the wrong direction over and over in his head.

Oikawa messed up a receive. A receive that could have kept them in the game. A receive he never should have had to try and go for if Hajime had just done his _damn job and scored_.

He half-heartedly comes back to the world around him when someone clenches at the back of his shirt to steer him to join the rest of the team in the line-up, he can’t be bothered to see who it is. He bows and shouts his thanks for a good game, thankful that mixed in with the voices of his own team nobody will be likely to notice how his voice cracks halfway through.

They approach the net and he ends up face to face with Kageyama Tobio in a perfect example of Murphy’s Law. Tobio carefully extends his hand and Hajime grips it firmly, his other hand clapping the boy on the shoulder. He bites back his tears to congratulate a kid he still considers an underclassman three years later on a game well played.

He looks to the side, to his captain, when Oikawa addresses Tobio. He half expects Oikawa to yell at him, maybe even try to take a swing at him again. Maybe he’ll just break down crying.

But Oikawa just tells Tobio they’re even before turning away and Hajime is left to watch his best friend’s back as he walks to join the rest of the team at the sidelines, his shoulders have never looked so broad and capable of carrying the world before. 

He takes his place next to Oikawa when the team gathers in front of Irihata-san. 

“You all played well,” he says. But aside from Oikawa the entire team is in different stages of breaking down.

On his other side Kindaichi is _weeping_ and if he wasn’t busy biting the inside of his cheek to keep himself from doing the same he would have thrown an arm around him and tell him he did well.

Matsukawa and Hanamaki also seem to be biting back tears, trying to look strong for the second and first years, but Hajime knows they are in pain. Just like he is.

When the first tears escape his eyes and he can feel his face contort into a mask of pain and fury and _despair_ so suddenly it hurts Oikawa is a rock at his side, brushing his knuckles against Hajime’s hand. Not holding it but touching it, providing just enough contact to keep Hajime’s knees from buckling.

Oikawa had brought him the perfect set, from such an impossible position, and he had fucked it up. He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. _What kind of ace was he_?!

On the way to the locker room Oikawa throws an arm around his shoulder, just for a second. If it was any longer Hajime thinks he would have a full on breakdown in the middle of the gymnasium.

When Oikawa passes him by his hand is replaced by first Hanamaki and then Matsukawa, both of them slapping his back hard enough to sting, hard enough to distract and keep him going.

Hajime sits in a corner of the locker room, a towel draped over his head to further shield him from everyone else. He can hear Oikawa going around the room, complimenting everyone on specific moves they made to help them earn points.

For all that he thought their captain would be the one to take this the hardest he is keeping his back straight and a smile on his face, and if Hajime was able to actually face him he would have seen it was a real one too.

Oikawa saves him for last, sinking down to his knees before Hajime so he can look at him under the towel. The door to the locker room opens and closes and everything goes a lot quieter, the rest of the team must have left to give them a moment. Somewhere in the back of his mind Hajime appreciates that.

“You were amazing, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa says, his voice low and full of admiration.

“I should have been able to score off of that toss.” He’s crying again, he doesn’t particularly care.

Oikawa reaches out and cups his face with a delicate hand. “You would have just put off the inevitable. We weren’t going to be beat them, Hajime.” Oikawa rarely calls him by his given name, making the moment all the more poignant.

“You didn’t think we could do it?” Hajime leans into Oikawa’s touch.

“Not after we lost that set, we couldn’t beat Tobio-chan and his team as they are now. They still have a lot of work to do and so do we. This is not the end, Hajime. And if you think I’m going to give up just because we lost one match you clearly don’t know me as well as you think.”

Hajime is speechless. Oikawa seems calm, yes, but he’s also determined and more motivated than ever. Oikawa leans in further, sliding his other hand in the short hair at the back of Hajime’s neck to bring him forward for a kiss. It’s short and it tastes like tears. Part of him would really like to drown in Oikawa’s kisses right now, who cares that the rest of the team is just outside the door? But Oikawa pulls away before Hajime has the chance to deepen their kiss.

“Later, Iwa-chan,” he promises, “First we’ll have to go see how Karasuno wipes the floor with Ushiwaka-chan.”

Oikawa stands up and offers Hajime his hand. This time there is no hesitation before he grabs it.

Sometimes it seems like he’s always the one balancing Oikawa, but it’s moments like these that he knows that’s wrong. They push and pull at each other on equal terms, bringing out the best in both of them. They are peers and best friends and lovers, and there never was a place in the world Hajime would rather be than at Oikawa’s side.

**Author's Note:**

> And that concludes IwaOi weeks june and july. I'm rather proud of myself for managing to write something for every single day, and I hope you had a good time reading them!
> 
> Thank you for your support! ♥


End file.
